This invention relates generally to the manufacture of trim panels and more particularly to the manufacture of trim panels that have a die locked pocket such as an automotive door trim panel that includes an arm rest that has a pull cup for pulling the door shut.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,596 granted to Reza Kargarzadeh et al Apr. 14, 1992 discloses a method of making a composite door panel having a die locked sail pocket. The door panel comprises a shell or skin, a substrate and an intermediate foam layer. The foam layer is foamed in place between a preformed skin and a preformed substrate in a mold. The mold has a lid that is equipped with a slide. When extended, the slide seals a sail pocket portion of the preformed substrate and centers it in a sail pocket portion of the preformed skin for the foaming operation. The slide is retracted to permit demolding of the foamed door panel. The patent does not specifically disclose how the skin and the substrate which also have die locked pockets are made.
This method is satisfactory for in place foaming of a composite trim panel that has a die locked pocket with walls that are substantially the same uniform thickness as the rest of the trim panel such as the composite door panel disclosed in the Kargarzadeh et al patent. However, the method is not entirely satisfactory for trim panels or trim panel components that have die locked pockets such as pull cups in an arm rest that require a wall that is substantially thicker than the trim panel or component to provide a comfortable hand grip for pulling the door shut. This is because the method among other reasons would at least require an increased cure time for curing the substantially thicker hand grip.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,318 granted to Milo L. Rohrlach et al Dec. 17, 1991 discloses a method of making a composite door panel that has a die locked map pocket at the bottom. The door panel comprises a substrate of rigid polyurethane foam reinforced with glass fibers that includes a die locked pocket portion for the map pocket. The substrate is molded in a first set of dies in which a pocket forming plug is installed as shown in stages A and B of FIG. 5 of the patent. The substrate is demolded with the plug retained in the die locked pocket portion and then finished in several stages. The plug is removed after the panel is completed as shown in stage E of FIG. 5 and as described in lines 36-47 in column 3 of the patent specification.
This method is also not satisfactory for making trim panels that have die-locked pockets that have a relatively thick wall such as door trim panels with arm rests that have pull cups which require a relatively thick hand grip for comfort and other ergonomical reasons. This method still requires an increased cure time for a thick hand grip portion. Moreover, the use of a discardable plug requires additional processing steps and increased manufacturing cost.